Gallery: The final mission to repair Hubble

Not long after its 19th birthday in April, the Hubble Space Telescope now seems to be at the apex of its capabilities, after a 13-day shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the ageing observatory.

Seven astronauts were sent to refurbish the telescope last month, in an effort to extend Hubble’s life until at least 2014. In addition to installing new stabilising gyroscopes and batteries, spacewalkers outfitted the telescope with two new instruments and repaired two others.

So far, all the instruments seem to be functioning well. “Knock on wood, things are looking great at the moment,” says Hubble programme manager Preston Burch of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. After a period of intense testing and calibration, the agency hopes to release new Hubble images in September.